It seems as though spring has been set back a bit this week. We've become cold again and stayed that way all week. Woke up this morning to single digits on the thermometer with a very light snow in the air. Doesn't look like much snow is in the forecast and if the weather pro's are right we should be getting back to more spring like temps the first thing next week. We are fortunate that the big storm that took over the northern lower peninsula did not touch us. (NOAA 5-day forecast for Deer Park)
With the snow hanging on we have enjoyed some of the best skiing of the season this past week. Because the snow is so nice on the lakeshore we have used that for our afternoon trail. Zeta seems to like all the space to run around while she joins us. You'll notice she got her first haircut. She must of gotten three inches taken off both sides. She looks totally different now but seems to be enjoying her new look.
Muskallonge is starting to show some sign of spring coming in. On the south side of the lake the shoreline is opening up a bit with water showing - Zeta's watering hole. And, Trout Creek has now opened up in the two places that it enters the lake on the west end.
Unfortunately one of my neighbors wasn't aware the creek came into the lake in two places. He took his snowmobile around the first place and throttled up only to come up on the second stream too quickly. His wife tells a funny story at all of sudden losing site of her husband while following him around the lake only to spot him a few seconds later as he stood up soaking wet standing in the middle of the open creek. You probably have noticed I left out names - only to protect the guilty party. The sled came through the creek much better than the rider.
No new birds showing up yet in the neighborhood. We have had quite a group of Common Redpolls at the feeders for the past month. We occasionally get one or two Crossbills in pecking away at seed on the ground. We have noticed that the males are starting to get their colors on. The male cross bill that was in today displayed beautiful red on his backside.
I traveled to the eastern U.P. last week and was surprised to see all the spring birds hanging around the fields and area where the ice is opening up. The surprise of the trip was seeing a few Sandhill Cranes already. Also saw lots of eagles and hawks and alot more turkeys than I thought were in that area.
It looks like the big lake may take some time to break up. There is a lot of floating ice in the lake, it just depends what direction the wind is blowing whether it's piled up on our shore or Canada's. But the ice bluffs are still large and look pretty solid at this point.
If you are interested in coming up sometime this spring or summer check out the cabin availability calendar. We are now showing what cabins are available when. We have several openings available this spring and still have a few choice dates available during the summer months. If we can do anything to help you set up your U.P. vacation dates just give us a call - (906) 658-3341
Hope you all have a nice week. Let's hope spring starts overruling winter and we start feeling the warmth or the sun. Meanwhile, we are blessed to be in a location where every sunset is fabulous.
Get outside and enjoy the day.
Mike & Monica
